When I yell out for my mom she will
respond and I feel a sense of relief knowing that she is there and I will be
able to find her. She will often either
come to me or tell me where I can find her, so that I am not walking aimlessly
around the store in search for her.
This is exactly what God does for
us. In John 10 Jesus uses the parable of
sheep to explain his connection to his people.
Jesus says that his sheep will know his voice and that he calls them by
name and leads them out. After the
shepherd has brought out all his sheep he will walk ahead of them, but the
sheep will follow him because they know the voice of their shepherd.
He then goes on to say that his sheep
will never follow the voice of a stranger, but they will run away and hide from
him because they do not know or recognize his voice.
Jesus is saying that he is the shepherd
and we are the sheep. Jesus is calling
each and every one of us into a relationship with him, to know him intimately
and to trust in him. While in the
process of trusting Jesus we will begin to know his voice. We will begin to deepen in our trust of him
so when he walks in front of us, guiding us and shows us the way to go, we
will follow him anywhere he leads us.
The shepherd, Jesus, will not be worried
about his flock following another voice because the bond, trust and
relationship between Jesus and his flock will already have been forged. There will be no separation because the two
have already become one.
This does not mean that the enemy won’t
try to break the relationship between the shepherd and his sheep. In fact it’s quite the opposite. The enemy will try to break the bond between
the two, where there are two or more, there is God. This is a fear of Satan’s. Satan does not want to allow people to follow
Jesus, and grow in Faith and Trust of him, because it strengthens God’s power
in the Earth.
There have been a few times while I have
been shopping with my mom that I can’t find her and when I call for her she
does not respond. There is a panic that
happens on those rare occasions. I will
frantically start looking for her until I find her. While in search for her I am calling her name,
until I hear a response.
This is what Jesus does with us. We will be searching for him. Searching for what is missing in our lives,
for something to take the pain away, to ease our loneliness. The whole time Jesus is calling out our
names. Jesus is saying I am over
here. Keep looking and you will find
me. You will start to have desires to
change your life, or to not participate in activities that once brought you joy
and satisfaction. This is Jesus calling
you into relationship with him.
Jesus is saying I am right here. I am waiting for you to find me and I will
not leave this space or stop calling your name until our relationship is so
close that you will know my voice anywhere I am. You will follow me and never have to seek for
me again.
We all come to finding Jesus by our own
paths. We all have a personal route to
take that will lead us to Jesus, but the outcome is the same. Once Jesus starts calling your name and
bringing you into relationship with him, there won’t be another voice you will
want to listen too. The voice of the
enemy will still be there but your ears (hearts) will only be tuned in to hear
the voice of your shepherd, Jesus.
The closer your relationship with Jesus
gets the clearer his voice will become and this is why in verse 10:4 he says,
when he brings his own sheep outside he will lead them and they will follow
because they know his voice. There will
be a yearning in your heart to know Jesus deeper and to become one with him, so
when he says now it’s time for you to follow me, you will obey his request.
He will now lead you into the purpose you
were created for. The voice of Jesus is
a voice that will always be calling your name, no matter how long you have
dedicated your life to him. No matter
how close your relationship is with Jesus, he will never stop calling your
name.
Just like the closeness a mother and
daughter have, that when I call for my mom in a crowded store, she will always
know my voice; your Heavenly Father will always know your voice and will never
stop calling you into a closer relationship with him.
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